Rivers To Start School Feeding, Free Medicare For Mothers

Rivers State Government will start free feeding programmes in public primary schools in the state in 2023. Governor Nyesom Wike gave this indication in the proposed budget he presented to the House of Assembly for approval.
The governor said the free school feeding programme will help to increase and sustain enrolment in public schools and reduce poverty in the state. A budget of N5 billion was proposed for the free school feeding programme.
The governor also said that government will from 2023 begin free medical care for nursing mothers. He said, “The State has further provided N4 billion under Special Projects to fund free medical care for nursing mothers and children for the fiscal year 2023.”
He also indicated that there will be new recruitments into the state’s service in 2023 for which he had proposed the sum of N7.7 billion. He also raised hope of retirees as he said N33.6 billion will be expended on monthly pensions while N12 billion will be spent on gratuities/death benefits.
In all, the governor made a total budget proposal of N550, 666,987,238 for the fiscal year 2023, comprising capital expenditure estimates of N350,977,495,537.00 and a recurrent budget estimates of N175,249,692,497.
He tagged the budget, “Budget of Consolidation and Continuity,” which he said would be used mainly to complete ongoing projects across the state.
The governor had said the capital budget, which represents about 63.2 percent of the total budget, “conforms to our practice of prioritising capital expenditures over recurrent.”
He explained that in 2023 the state will expend N73,460,278,307 on salaries(ministries/departments/parastatals).
Under capital expenditure, Wike said the state will spend N114,264,480,208 on infrastructure, N36,999,486,717 specifically on education and N31,500,002,023 on health.
“Accordingly, the sum of N114,264,480,208 is provided in the 2023 capital budget estimate to fund the completion of all ongoing roads and other physical infrastructural projects awarded by our administration.”
The governor stated that while no new projects may be awarded, except where such is considered very significant, the administration shall galvanise efforts and resources to complete all ongoing projects so that the new government can start on a clean slate, unencumbered.
Wike said the several fiscal measures introduced by the state including a moratorium on external borrowing to achieve economic growth, fiscal discipline and financial consolidation have significantly blocked revenue leakages, improved capacity for internal revenue generation and prevented unsustainable deficit financing.
“We have, therefore, resolved to continue with the existing fiscal measures for the year 2023. This means that there would be no increase in tax rates. No new taxes will be introduced.
“However, we will continue to intensify our drive to significantly improve IGR by expanding opportunities for more investments, industrialization and efficient tax collection.”
He disclosed that the State remains determined to reduce its dependence on statutory federal allocations to finance its budget and development. He urged other states to join Rivers in the struggle to secure the right to impose and collect VAT at the sub-national level.
Reviewing the 2022 budget performance, Wike narrated that the approved total budget of the State was N420, 485,053,736.
The governor disclosed that by the end of October 2022, total revenue receipts of the State stood at N321, 250,781,228.91, only about 70 percent performance, while the total receipts from internally generated revenue (IGR) was N112.099 billion, representing 25 percent performance above the figure of 2021 for the same period but over 50 percent less than the projected sum for 2022.
“The shortfall in IGR is attributed to our inability to collect the projected proceeds from value-added tax following the stay of execution ordered by the Court of Appeal, which we have appealed to the Supreme Court.
“Furthermore, augmentation from the Federal Government accounts for the nominal increase recorded in the allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). In other words, the 2022 budget performance did not also meet projected receipts from FAAC.
“Nevertheless, the aggregate performance of the budget on the revenue side stood at over 90 percent at the end of October 2022.”
“We are therefore poised to use the 2023 budget to deliver more transformative infrastructure and other strategic projects and services and move our dear State closer to the point of self-sustainability.”
The Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, commended the governor for his achievements in the past seven years, noting that the infrastructural projects will positively impact on the development.
Meanwhile, the Defence for Human Rights and Democracy DHRD has demand that the Rivers State government should deviate from her undemocratic culture of budget secrecy.
The human rights body charged the Rivers State House of Assembly to embark on the normal parliamentary procedure, organise a public hearing and invite civil society groups, stakeholders and opinion leaders in the state to make informed inputs into the budget process.
“The government should make the budget open for public scrutiny for civil society groups like DHRD to monitor the implementation of the budget to avert the seven-year norm of breast-pocket and budget and implementation.A responsive and responsible government should be accountable, transparent and be subjected to probity,” Clifford Christopher Solomon, chairman Defence for Human Rights and Democracy, DHRD stated.